Ashdown critical of Afghan mission

The former Liberal Democrat leader said the failure to speak with a single voice meant the resources going in to Afghanistan were being squandered. And he warned of mission failure without urgent action to combat the current "fractured" processes.

Lord Ashdown - the former UN high representative to Bosnia - is thought to be in pole position for a "double-hatted" job as joint UN-Nato envoy to Afghanistan. A "triple-hat" plan, to include the EU, has reportedly been discussed but not agreed.

The role needs to be filled by Christmas because the most senior UN and Nato representatives in Afghanistan are due to quit at the end of the year.

Speaking on Sky's Sunday Live with Adam Boulton, Lord Ashdown refused to comment on the reports. But he added: "I've always said that Afghanistan was more likely to succeed if the international community co-ordinated itself and spoke with a single voice.

"Its failure to do so has led us to a position I think where the relatively low level of resources we are putting into Afghanistan are seriously wasted.

"I said some time ago that I thought if we continued to be acting in a fractured fashion in Afghanistan we were more likely to lose than succeed and I still hold to that position."

And he added: "The civilian aspects of the operation in Afghanistan have been beset by the fact that there is no single overall controlling hand that co-ordinates that.

"We are putting into Afghanistan at present 1/25th the number of troops and 1/50th the amount of aid per head of population that we put into Bosnia and Kosovo. Does that mean we are going to fail? No. But the possibility of failure becomes greater if at the same time as putting in less resources in you don't co-ordinate that."

Lord Ashdown has previously called for a strong international figure to co-ordinate efforts in Afghanistan and was reportedly offered such a role in July by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.